For over 30 years I’ve talked with men and women who deeply love God, but struggle to understand the Bible. Some believe that unless you are a Theologian, Pastor, or Christian leader, you really can’t understand it. But this is just not true. I’ve launched this simple podcast to help everyday men and women fall in love with the Word of God. Each day I’ll read a portion of Scriptures from the Old and New Testament, covering the entire Bible in one year. After I’ll give a brief devotional. To support this Podcast or follow my other work, visit my website at www.randygoudeau.com
Welcome to Day 238 of the Bible 365 Podcast! I'm so excited you are joining me on this journey through the entire Bible this year. Reminder that each episode in 2026 will have a brand new devotional.
Today we'll be reading through Job 20-22; 2 Corinthians 1:1-11; Psalm 40:11-17; and Proverbs 22:2-4. Invite a family member or friend to join you as we grow in our knowledge of God through His Word.
Welcome to day 238 of the Bible 365 podcast. My name is Randy Gudo, and today we're going to be reading through Job chapters 20 through 22, 2 Corinthians chapter 1, verses 1 through 11, Psalm chapter 40, verses 11 through 17, and Proverbs chapter 22, verses 2 through 4. The translation I'm using throughout this podcast is the Berean Standard Bible, also known as the BSB. Let's read. Job chapter 20. Then Zophar the Naamathite replied, So my anxious thoughts compel me to answer, because of the turmoil within me. I have heard a rebuke that insults me, and my understanding prompts a reply. Do you not know that from antiquity, since man was placed on the earth, the triumph of the wicked has been brief, and the joy of the godless momentary. Though his arrogance reaches the heavens and his head touches the clouds, he will perish forever, like his own dong. Those who had seen him will ask, Where is he? He will fly away like a dream never to be found. He will be chased away like a vision in the night. The eye that saw him will see him no more, and his place will no longer behold him. His sons will seek the favor of the poor, for his own hands must return his wealth. The youthful vigor that fills his bones will lie down with him in the dust. Though evil is sweet in his mouth and he conceals it under his tongue, though he cannot bear to let it go and keeps it in his mouth, yet in his stomach his food sours into the venom of cobras within him. He swallows wealth but vomits it out. God will force it from his stomach. He will suck the poison of cobras, the fangs of a viper will kill him. He will not enjoy the streams, the rivers flowing with honey and cream. He must return the fruit of his labor without consuming it. He cannot enjoy the profits of his trading. For he has oppressed and forsaken the poor. He has seized houses he did not build. Because his appetite is never satisfied, he cannot escape with his treasure. Nothing is left for him to consume, thus his prosperity will not endure. In the midst of his plenty, he will be distressed. The full force of misery will come upon him. When he has filled his stomach, God will vent his fury upon him, raining it down on him as he eats. Though he flees from an iron weapon, a bronze-tipped arrow will pierce him. It is drawn out of his back, the gleaming point from his liver. Terrors come over him. Total darkness is reserved for his treasures. A fire unfanned will consume him and devour what is left in his tent. The heavens will expose his iniquity, and the earth will rise up against him. The possessions of his house will be removed, flowing away on the day of God's wrath. This is the wicked man's portion from God, the inheritance God has appointed him. Job chapter 21. Then Job answered, Listen carefully to my words, let this be your consolation to me. Bear with me while I speak, then, after I have spoken, you may go on mocking. Is my complaint against a man? Then why should I not be impatient? Look at me and be appalled, put your hand over your mouth. When I remember, terror takes hold, and my body trembles in horror. Why do the wicked live on, growing old and increasing in power? Their descendants are established around them, and their offspring before their eyes. Their homes are safe from fear, no rod of punishment from God is upon them. Their bulls breed without fail, their cows bear calves and do not miscarry. They send forth their little ones like a flock, their children skip about, singing to the tambourine and lyre and making merry at the sound of the flute. They spend their days in prosperity and go down to Sheol in peace. Yet they say to God, Leave us alone, for we have no desire to know your ways. Who is the Almighty that we should serve him? And what would we gain if we pray to him? Still, their prosperity is not in their own hands, so I stay far from the counsel of the wicked. How often is the lamp of the wicked put out? Does disaster come upon them? Does God in his anger apportion destruction? Are they like straw before the wind? Like chaff swept away by a storm? It is said that God lays up one's punishment for his children. Let God repay the man himself so he will know it. Let his eyes see his own destruction. Let him drink for himself the wrath of the Almighty. For what does he care about his household after him, when the number of his months has run out? Can anyone teach knowledge to God, since he judges those on high? One man dies full of vigor, completely secure and at ease. His body is well nourished, and his bones are rich with marrow. Yet another man dies in the bitterness of his soul, having never tasted prosperity. But together they lie down in the dust, and worms cover them both. Behold, I know your thoughts full well, the schemes by which you would wrong me. For you say, Where now is the nobleman's house, and where are the tents in which the wicked dwell? Have you never asked those who travel the roads? Do you not accept their reports? Indeed, the evil man is spared from the day of calamity, delivered from the day of wrath. Who denounces his behavior to his face? Who repays him for what he has done? He is carried to the grave, and watch is kept over his tomb. The clods of the valley are sweet to him, everyone follows behind him, and those before him are without number. So how can you comfort me with empty words? For your answers remain full of falsehood. Job chapter 22. Then Eliphaz the Timanite replied, Can a man be of use to God? Can even a wise man benefit him? Does it delight the Almighty that you are righteous? Does he profit if your ways are blameless? Is it for your reverence that he rebukes you and enters into judgment against you? Is not your wickedness great? Are not your iniquities endless? For you needlessly demanded security from your brothers and deprived the naked of their clothing. You gave no water to the weary and withheld food from the famished, while the land belonged to a mighty man, and a man of honor lived on it. You sent widows away empty handed, and the strength of the fatherless was crushed. Therefore snares surround you, and sudden peril terrifies you. It is so dark you cannot see, like a flood of water covers you. Is not God as high as the heavens? Look at the highest stars, how lofty they are. Yet you say, What does God know? Does he judge through thick darkness? Thick clouds veil him, so he does not see us as he traverses the vault of heaven. Will you stay on the ancient path that wicked men have trod? They were snatched away before their time, and their foundations were swept away by a flood. They said to God, Depart from us, what can the Almighty do to us? But it was He who filled their houses with good things. So I stay far from the counsel of the wicked. The righteous see it and are glad, the innocent mock them. Surely our foes are destroyed, and fire has consumed their excess. Reconcile now and be at peace with him, thereby good will come to you. Receive instruction from his mouth, and lay up his words in your heart. If you return to the Almighty, you will be restored. If you remove injustice from your tents and consign your gold to the dust, and the gold of Ophir to the stones of the ravines, then the Almighty will be your gold and the finest silver for you. Surely then you will delight in the Almighty and lift up your face to God. You will pray to him, and he will hear you, and you will fulfill your vows. Your decisions will be carried out, and light will shine on your ways. When men are brought low and you say, Lift them up, then he will save the lowly. He will deliver even one who is not innocent, rescuing him through the cleanness of your hands. 2 Corinthians chapter 1 verses 1 through 11. Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, to the church of God in Corinth, together with all the saints throughout Achaia, grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. For just as the sufferings of Christ overflow to us, so also through Christ our comfort overflows. If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation. If we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which accomplishes in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we experience. And our hope for you is sure, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you will share in our comfort. We do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the hardships we encountered in the province of Asia. We were under a burden far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life. Indeed, we felt we were under the sentence of death, in order that we would not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead. He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. In him we have placed our hope that he will yet again deliver us, as you help us by your prayers. Then many will give thanks on our behalf for the favor shown us in answer to their prayers. Psalm forty, verses eleven through seventeen. O Lord, do not withhold your mercy from me. Your loving devotion and faithfulness will always guard me. For evils without number surround me. My sins have overtaken me so that I cannot see. They are more than the hairs of my head, and my heart has failed within me. Be pleased, O Lord, to deliver me. Hurry, O Lord, to help me. May those who seek my life be ashamed and confounded. May those who wish me harm be repelled and humiliated. May those who say to me, Aha, aha, be appalled at their own shame. May all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you. May those who love your salvation always say, The Lord be magnified. But I am poor and needy. May the Lord think of me. You are my helper and deliverer. O my God, do not delay. Proverbs twenty two verses two through four. The rich and the poor have this in common. The Lord is maker of them all. The prudent see danger and take cover, but the simple keep going and suffer the consequences. The rewards of humility and the fear of the Lord are wealth and honor and life. Today's devotional is coming from Second Corinthians chapter one verses three and four. I love this portion so much. There are so many people who believe that there is the God of the Old Testament and He is an angry God. But in the New Testament, because of Jesus, he's made God the Father, you know, nicer. And that is just so inaccurate. It's a horrible misunderstanding of the Bible, Old and New Testament. So it's the same God in the New Testament as we see in the Old Testament. There's a saying that in the Old Testament we have the New Testament concealed, and that in the New Testament we have the Old Testament revealed. But that's not for today. Look at these verses right here. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion, and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles. Aren't you glad that our Heavenly Father is the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort? In the NLT, it says that God is the source of all comfort. And what does he do? He comforts us in all our troubles. This can be troubles that you have created for yourself, that others have created for you, or just a horrible situation that nobody created. It just happened. And yet, our Heavenly Father, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, he comforts us in all our troubles. So that is so important. So that. What kind of trouble? Any trouble. Well, you know, they're in that situation because they brought it on themselves. Well, aren't you glad that God won't think that way about you? He is the God of all comfort who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble. And what do we comfort them with? With the comfort we ourselves have received from God. Wow, to think that the same comfort that God pours out on us, we can give that same comfort to others. I wonder how many times that I've had someone in my life who came and just sat with me to comfort me, and that was them comforting me with the same comfort that they had received from the Father. So much to think about, so much to act on. Let's pray. Father, we come to you in the name of Jesus. And today we say with Paul, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. Draw us close by the presence of your Holy Spirit and reveal your Son to us. We ask all these things in the precious name of Jesus. Amen. Well, I sure hope you enjoyed today's devotional. If you're getting something out of the Bible 365 podcast, consider sharing it with your family and with your friends. Please continue to pray for me. I am praying for you. Have a great day, and I'll see you tomorrow with day two thirty nine.
